Fragile Dreams
by StelenaIsMySunshine
Summary: AU. Izzie finds out that she is pregnant with George's child - just as he returns to his wife. A George/Izzie story.
1. I'm Fine, I'm Really Freaking Fine

**Fragile Dreams**

_**\- This is a "vintage" Gizzie story that I started writing many moons ago and hope to finish. Anyway, in this George and Izzie have just broken up when Izzie learns that she is pregnant with his baby. How will George react to the news of Izzie's pregnancy, especially when he learns how precarious it is? -**_

_**Just a note: This is AU so I am saying that Izzie has never had a child before. Therefore, Hannah does not exist.-**_

* * *

**Part 1: Don't Tell Me That it's Over**

* * *

**Chapter 1: I'm Fine, I'm Really Freaking Fine**

_So it's over. Officially and completely over. And I am okay with it too. _

_Really I am. _

_We both knew it wasn't going to last. Any relationship that starts out the way ours did is doomed to fail. He was married and I was grieving for Denny when we hooked up. The odds were stacked against us from the beginning. We tried to make our friendship into something more than it was and we failed, of course. It never could have worked out between us and I'm fine with it. I am really freaking fine with it. _

_Really. Really, I am._

XoXoXo

Isobel "Izzie" Stevens was supposed to be scrubbing in for surgery at that moment but instead she found her arms wrapped around the less-than-sanitary toilet bowl in the resident's lounge, feeling another knot of bile building up in her throat. Logically, she knew that she was going to be fine but her body screamed that she may as well be dying for all the pain and discomfort she was feeling at that moment.

It was just that every time she thought she had vomited up the last of the tuna on rye she had for lunch, she soon realized how wrong she was as she found herself worshipping the porcelain gods once again.

She felt her gut begin to hum again and quickly positioned herself in a crouch over the toilet bowl. She reached back to pull her long hair away from her face but she felt a strong hand already closing around her frizzy mop and lifting the strands off her shoulders.

She would have to thank whoever it was playing her knight-in-shining-armor later because she was already heaving again.

"It's okay, Iz, you'll be okay once you get it all out of your system," Dr. Alex Karev said from behind her.

"Doubtful," Izzie said when she had finished emptying what she hoped was the last of her stomach contents for the moment.

Alex ripped a paper towel out of the dispenser and handed it to her. She wiped her mouth, realizing how gross and disgusting she must look and yet not giving a damn about it.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Our favorite Nazi sent me to look for you. She said you were ignoring her million and one pages."

"Do me a favor and tell Mrs. Thing to go fuck herself." Izzie dropped down onto the dirty bathroom floor once again. It was supposed to be cleaned every five hours but Lord knew that never happened.

Izzie shook her head. "Oh god that sounded awful! You know I'd never say that to Miranda – not to her face anyway." She groaned. "I just feel so crappy. The tuna on rye I ate at lunch must have been bad."

Alex inspected the floor with a critical eye for a moment and the finding a relatively spot-free space of floor, he dropped down beside her. "Are you sure that's all it is, Dr. Model - just food poisoning?"

Izzie watched him through narrowed eyes. "What are you trying to say?" she demanded. Alex had better not dare say what she was trying so hard not to even allow herself to think.

"Well, Iz, think about it. This is not the first time in the past week you've been under the weather so to speak. Friday and yesterday you said you had a headache and some nausea and today you are vomiting. Plus Christina told me you were feeling dizzy earlier today."

"She did what?! Why would she tell you that and why the hell are you checking up on me?"

"We both care about you, obviously," he said. "If you ask me I think you aren't just feverish you are actually –"

"_SICK!_ Just sick with the flu," Izzie immediately jumped in to stop him from saying the words she knew he had been about to utter.

Alex watched her and then suddenly reached out and pushed a strand of her flaxen-colored hair off of her sweaty forehead. "Izzie, is there a chance that you could be knocked up?"

"_PREGNANT?!"_ Izzie yelped. "You mean pregnant."

Alex nodded, looking at her with an incredulous expression on his face.

"No, no I'm not pregnant! I can't be. I just can't. I don't have time to be pregnant. I don't have the energy to raise a child and I don't want to right now."

Izzie broke down in tears then and Alex reached out to pull her into his arms. "It's okay, Iz, maybe you really aren't after all."

Izzie looked up, unknowingly wiping a long strand of snot on Alex's green scrubs top. He flinched but didn't say anything.

"Yes I am, Alex! I am pregnant. I can't keep on denying it. I am definitely pregnant. I just know it. I feel it. A lot of my female patients say they just knew it when it happened. I know it!" she cried.

"You're a doctor. You know how this works. Are you late?" He asked, feeling inwardly sick at the idea of having this conversation with a woman he was at least half in love with. It was one thing to discuss hormonal issues with his patients, but it was quite another to discuss them with a woman he had dreamt about banging every night for literally years.

"It's late, Alex," she answered. "Eleven days late!" She was really dripping snot on him big-time on now but he tried to ignore it. He just had to avoid putting his hands in the goop.

"Izzie, there could be a lot of reasons …" Alex said, trying to comfort her and knowing that he was failing miserably at it. He wasn't good at this emotional bonding stuff.

Izzie shook her head. "Nope. I'm definitely pregnant. I already feel myself getting fat."

Alex tried to delicately think of a way to ask the important question on his mind at the moment. "So if you are pregnant, is it safe to assume that … George –" he shuddered involuntarily - "is the father?" He tried to swallow his disgust at that thought.

Izzie stared at Alex with flashing hazel eyes. "Are you freaking kidding me, Karev?! How many other married guys do you think I've been screwing?" she shouted.

He reached out a hand to her lips to try and shush her. "Calm down, okay? As revolting as the idea is of you carrying Syph-boy's spawn, you shouldn't overreact."

Izzie felt like clobbering him. He had absolutely no comprehension of what she was going through right now. "How can I not overreact, Alex? I'm pregnant; the guy is married, and just went back to his wife."

"What? Callie took George back?" Alex said in shock. He hadn't seen that one coming.

"Yes. Yes, she did. But I'm okay with it. Really I am. I am actually really freaking happy for them. Really I am," she shrieked.

Alex pulled a face. "God, you and your pregnancy hormones will be the death of society as we know it." He climbed to his feet and held out his hand to her. "Come on let's get you cleaned up – you've got a little spit-up on your coat. Then we can give you the infamous test and see if the rabbit bites it."

Izzie reluctantly reached for his hand and he pulled her to her feet. "Don't even talk about little furry things dying right now," she said. "That's the last thing I need to hear."

Alex wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her into the main area of the lounge and over to a bed which he pushed her down on. "I am not letting you have your way with me, Dr. Evil, so don't even think about trying anything," she said warily.

"Oh please – like I would ever go down on a pregnant woman," he said, giving her a playful grin. "I just want you to sit down so you don't pass out."

"Okay," Izzie said. She looked up at him with a questioning look in her eyes. "Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden, Karev?"

"Believe it or not I care." He chuckled. "Though you aren't making it very easy to cheer you up."

Izzie pouted. "What makes you think I want to be cheered up?"

He shook his head. "Never mind. Let me find you some clean scrubs to change into and then I'll go tell the Nazi you're not going to help with the surgery today."

"She is going to come after me with her death ray," Izzie said. "She is really going to kill me and enjoy doing it."

Alex smiled. "I'll explain everything to her; she'll just have to put aside her bullshit for once and understand that other people have problems too."

"You are not going to say anything!" Izzie snapped. "This is no one's business but my own. I don't want everyone gossiping about this and it getting back to George and Callie. Especially because …" Her voice trailed off and she looked down at her white sneakers.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Especially because what, Izzie?"

Izzie sighed and threw her hands up in exasperation. "Because, Alex, I am not even sure I'm going to keep this baby."


	2. Lack of Cooperation

**Chapter 2: Lack of Cooperation**

_I am a guy – and a doctor - so logically I know that my hormones should be raging right about now. Being this close to any woman – especially my wife - should be orbiting my libido into outer space but I am finding it decidedly cold and lifeless down there! I am just not feeling this and neither is she. I can see that by the expression on her face. She looks like she's dying to say, "Is it awake yet?", and make me feel even worse but she somehow resists._

_Although I really couldn't blame her if she said that. Why not humiliate me when I humiliated her? I mean, I cheated on her. Not once but lots of times. She could easily and justifiably hate me. And I feel like I owe it to her right now to rock her world but it just ain't happening. The member is not cooperating._

XoXoXo

"George, this isn't working," Callie finally said, pushing him away from her and rolling out from under him.

"I'm – I'm sorry," he said. "I must be tired."

"Something like that," she muttered. Early morning nookie would normally excite any couple but the mojo – and the equipment – certainly are not working for these two on this morning.

This is the first time George and Callie have tried to be intimate since Callie invited George back into the house. For the past week, he had been bunking down on the couch but for some reason she'd decided this morning would be the right time for a romantic liaison. Apparently, she was wrong.

George sat up in bed, rubbing his forehead. "Callie, I don't know what to say …"

"So don't say it," she grumbled.

George sighed. "Okay let me make it up to you. I'll fix us breakfast – bacon, eggs, the whole kit-and-caboodle ..."

"You really think that is going to make this all better?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"It won't?" He asked and felt stupid as soon as he said it. Somehow he was always feeling stupid, inept and ridiculously lame in Callie's presence. Still he was determined to make this work. He had to – he owed it to her.

"No it won't, George!"

"It will get better, Callie, I promise. I just –"

"I'm sure you're right," she lied, standing and grabbing a robe off the dresser where she had flung it earlier when they both believed they could go through with this charade. She pulled it over her shoulders and knotted it at the waist. "I'm going to get ready for work."

"We don't have to be in until ten," he reminded her, but she had already slammed the bathroom door closed behind her.

XoXoXo

Izzie sighed and threw her hands up in exasperation. "Because, Alex, I am not even sure I'm going to keep this baby."

Alex stared at Izzie. "Can you repeat that please?"

Izzie groaned and stood slowly, probably wishing she had stayed sitting. She looked all green again. "You heard me," she snapped as she started for the door.

Alex stood still for a moment, turning over everything he had learned in the past twenty minutes. Izzie was quite possibly pregnant but with George's kid. The same freaking George who had never deserved her and who was currently married to someone else. This was a fucking nightmare.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and then walked over to her, reaching for a hand. "Okay, Dr. Model, I don't think you want to make a decision like this so quickly."

"I am not discussing this anymore with you, Alex," she said. "I've told you too much already and I honestly have no idea why."

He grinned. "Because you love me?!"

Izzie shook her head. "Don't go there."

Alex sighed. "Okay, but maybe before you decide to make any big decisions, you should know 100% for sure that you are actually pregnant."

"I told you – I know I am. I can feel it in my body," she said. "I feel this like … presence in me. A little part of me that wasn't there before. Half of me wants to embrace this and the other half wants to run screaming from it."

Alex frowned. "The way you are talking about this baby, Izzie, makes it sound like an alien knocked you up. Although George is not very different than –"

"Shut it, Karev!" she snapped. "I'm hormonal; I have long fingernails, and I know how to use them!"

"Calm down. Take that all important little test. Then you'll know, and then you can make the big decisions later."

Izzie shrugged. "Fine. But I already know what it's going to say …"

XoXoXo

Alex drew Izzie's blood and had the results sent to the lab under the name "Goana Frenchme".

"Goana Frenchme?" She repeated when he told Izzie about her pseudonym.

"I like it. Don't you? 'Go-on-n-French-me," he said with a laugh.

She sighed and attempted to hide a smile. "You have a sick mind, Karev."

"Thanks."

"That wasn't a compliment."

Alex eventually returned to the resident's lounge with the file in his hand. He saw her lying back on one of the beds with her hands over her face. He moved over to her. "Iz, you okay?" he asked, sitting beside her and reaching for her left hand.

Izzie blinked up at him. "Yeah. I was just …"

"Crying," he said, and dabbed at her face with the sleeve of his lab coat.

Izzie shook her head. "Just give me the results. Did the rabbit 'bite it'?"

He smiled thinly. "I thought you didn't want to think about little furry things dying."

She shrugged. "I don't. I just was using your words for some reason."

Alex smiled. "Well fortunately for you, no rabbits were harmed in the process of this test."

Izzie struggled to sit up and he could see her face looked almost green again with the nausea. He reached for her shoulders and helped her upright where she swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Well, don't keep me in suspense. What does it say?"

"What you already know," he said with a sigh. "You are definitely pregnant. About six weeks along."

Izzie's eyes filmed with fresh tears and they then began to spill down her cheeks. "Why? Why now?" she asked. "This is not the right time."

He shrugged. "I've never heard of a baby coming at the 'right time', Izzie. It happens when it happens."

"But George … Callie …"

"They will have to understand. Callie should have known what she was getting into when she decided to take George back …"

"Did she?" Izzie asked. "Cause she couldn't have expected this."

"Are you going to have this baby, Iz?" He asked. "I know you always wanted kids."

"I don't know, Alex. I honestly don't know if I can do that to Callie and George." She broke down into sobs. Sobs that shook her whole body. She hadn't cried like this since Denny's death.

Alex reached out and pulled her into his strong arms.

XoXoXo

"Callie –" George called to his wife as they walked into the hospital. Or as she stalked ahead, actually.

"Not now, George," she called back to him and disappeared around a corner. They had driven the whole way to work in complete silence and it killed George that he couldn't be the man that she needed. That she deserved.

George sighed and turned on his heel, starting for the resident's lounge. He opened the door and was surprised – and upset – to see Izzie - _his_ Izzie (yes, he still thought of her that way, dammit), huddled up in Alex Karev's arms, her blonde hair fanned out over his broad shoulder.

He lowered his head and with a soft sigh, backed out of the room before either of them knew he had been there.


	3. Rumor Has It

**I am pleasantly surprised at the attention this story is getting. There will be lots of George/Izzie coming right up. I was just laying the groundwork. Thanks for reading. Here's more.**

**Chapter 3: Rumor Has It**

"So, Alex, you're not going to tell anyone, right?" Izzie said, sitting up in the bed and staring at her fellow intern.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Oh please. Who would I even tell?"

"George?" Izzie suggested, rolling her own eyes.

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"Because you want to like, punish him ..."

Alex quirked an eyebrow. "Punish him for what?"

"For loving me; for having me; for captivating my soul," Izzie said as she rested her chin on her knees.

"Jesus, Izzie, watch soap operas much?" Alex asked, standing and walking to the door. "Look, I'll check on you in a bit. The Nazi will come after us both if I don't pick up the slack."

"Yeah, okay," Izzie said. "I think I'm just going to go home anyway."

"Okay, well… best wishes and all."

Izzie smiled thinly. "You are so not good at this condolences stuff."

"Condolences? Who died?"

"Maybe me," Izzie said, clutching her abdomen protectively.

XoXoXo

Izzie grabbed her backpack out of her locker and started for the door when it suddenly burst open and nearly smashed her in the face. "Watch it!" she immediately barked.

"Sorry, Iz," Meredith Grey immediately apologized. "We didn't see you there." She was with Cristina Yang and they both had undeniable curiosity etched across their faces.

"Yeah, it's fine," Izzie said, trying to slip past the door but the two of them made a great force-field against attempted escape.

"We heard you're sick," Cristina said. "I hope you're not contagious."

Meredith elbowed Cristina and she yelped a little as Izzie rolled her eyes. "I'm not contagious. What I have is not catching ..."

"So it's not the bubonic?" Cristina quipped. "That's the rumor going around ..."

Izzie shook her head. "Why is everyone so concerned about me being ill? It happens to the best of us at one time or another."

"We just want to make sure you're okay," Meredith said. "Is there anything we can do?"

"You can move out of my way," Izzie said impatiently. "Other than that, no. I am the only one who can solve this problem."

Cristina stared at Izzie, seeming to visibly be stripping away the last remnants of Izzie's sanity and self-protective shield. "Sounds familiar," Cristina finally said.

Izzie shifted from foot to foot nervously. "What sounds familiar?"

"Izzie, not that it's any of our business but you wouldn't happen to be pregnant would you?" Cristina asked.

Izzie stiffened on the spot. "You're right, Yang, it is none of your business."

"So I'll take that as a 'yes'."

Izzie felt like grabbing Cristina by her bony neck and throttling her but resisted by sheer force of will. "Did Alex tell you?" she barked.

Meredith shook her head. "No. We really thought you were just ill with the flu until Cristina zeroed in on the truth right now."

"How did you figure it out, Yang?" Izzie asked. "Am I emanating some pregnancy pheromones only other women can smell?"

Cristina wrinkled her nose. "No, but you are emanating the smell of vomit. Stand back a bit."

"Then how did you know?" Izzie asked.

"You had that weird look in your eye. The one I had when I realized Burke had knocked me up."

"That was a totally different situation," Izzie protested, crossing her arms almost defensively.

"Not really, Iz," Cristina said. "We both ended up exactly where we never thought we'd be ... Now whose the father?"

"None of your damn business," Izzie said and forcibly pushed past her pseudo-friends and out the door, headed for home.

XoXoXo

"Georgie-Porgy, you're never going to believe what I just heard," Nurse Olivia Harper said, hurrying over to him.

George looked up from the chart he was scribbling in at the hub and tried to feign disinterest for even he was not insusceptible to partaking in hospital gossip - even from the woman who had given him syphilis at one time.

"I am not interested," he said.

"Yeah right. This is juicy stuff."

George sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "What is it?"

"Word around the hospital is that Izzie Stevens is expecting," Olivia said with a smirk.

George swallowed hard. "Expecting? Expecting what? A package or -"

Olivia giggled. "A bambino or bambina," Olivia said and mocked rocking a baby.

George felt like he had been sucker punched. "Seriously?"

"Uh uh."

"Where'd you hear that?" He asked, immediately trying to process all this information but it was just piling up too damn fast.

"Okay ... Well, I admit it. I overheard Izzie and some of the other interns gabbing it up in the on-call room."

"Oh?"

"Yep. I would love to know who the daddy is," Olivia said with a smirk. "That part Izzie wouldn't tell anyone."

George nodded as Olivia fairly skipped off, happily having administered a dreadful blow to George. George was sure if he was the father, Izzie would have told him right away. And she had been spending an awful lot of time with Alex Karev lately. In fact, hadn't he just seen the two of them all snuggly-buggly in the on-call room?

George immediately jumped to his feet, hurrying away from the hub, feeling like he was going to puke his guts out.

XoXoXo

Izzie had driven home, again in near tears, and walked into the living room of the house she shared with Meredith. Once upon a time a whole 'nother bevy of people had occupied the living space but that was no more. George had moved out when he reconciled with Callie...

_George, George, George._

"Just stop thinking about him, Izzie, just stop," she commanded herself.

She flopped down onto the sofa in the living room after taking off her coat and turned on her side, quickly falling into a dreamless sleep.

However, she was awakened what seemed like mere minutes later by the ringing of the doorbell. "What the hell?" she murmured, rubbing her blurry eyes.

She climbed to her feet and padded down the hall to the living room. As soon as she opened the door and saw who was standing there, she wished she wouldn't have bothered.


End file.
